I've been to Buford Dam Lower Pool twice this week, once with a spinning setup throwing a 1/8 oz black/gold Panther Martin and today with a fly rod throwing a variety of nymphs and a black Wooly Booger. I got one strike today on a nymph as I was lifting at the end of a drag but the fish came off quickly.

Each trip was roughly 2 hrs.

What am I missing? Is it just the wrong time of year? I didn't see other anglers catch anything either.

__________________
Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do sometimes won't know how to take him...

I have heard that the lake has started turning over early this year, and that always slows the trout fishing way down. If it was green and heavily stained, and possibly smelled weird, then it has started.

Granted I haven't been fishing down there for too long, but I haven't suffered too much during turnover time. From a spin-fishing perspective, focus on areas that will concentrate a lot of fish in a smaller piece of water, and fiddle with your colors. Silver / Gold will almost always get your something, but the stain in the water during turnover should open up your options some. Try some matte finishes rather than shiny, or reach for hotter colors like your hot pinks, or fire tigers. We spend a lot of time trying to fool trout with natural shapes and colors, but sometimes we can profit just from giving them an easy target to hit.

Try a small jerkbait. Get to really ripping and generating a lot of action to make fish react. You might get a half dozen(or more) chasers for every committed hitter, but at least it's not boring.

How far South of the Dam did you go?

__________________

All jokes now with 50% more walleye! 'Merica Man, back by popular demand!

Probably just your choice of bait, the goto bait on a small spinning setup is the Rapala F-5 in the Rainbow trout color. If I ever got to the point where I HAD to catch a fish, this would be it, I can catch them at the boat ramp in front of 5 fisherman with this lure. the brown trout absolutely destroy it, and the current state record brown trout (20lbs) was caught on the CD-5 Brown Trout, which is identical to the F-5 but in a slow sinking version. But up top near the dam, the F-5 is your goto lure, once you use it you will never use anything else.

If your feeling froggy, put a split ring on the end of the lure and then tie it on, just a steady retrieve will get major bites. a little flick of the wrist makes the action insane or if they are being tight lipped this will also get the bite. And the biggest key to fishing that section of river...Fishing where their are fish, that are gets hammered all day every day, so you have to know where some fish are holding to catch them.

the current state record brown trout (20lbs) was caught on the CD-5 Brown Trout, which is identical to the F-5 but in a slow sinking version.

The current record fish was (allegedly) caught on a Rooster Tail, and (allegedly) 6lb test. Guy must've had a horeshoe up his backside to land that fish. Couldn't find any info about the previous record fish.

I like a trout pattern CD5 as well, if I'm going to fish a floating model it'll be jointed, like a J-5 or J-7.

__________________

All jokes now with 50% more walleye! 'Merica Man, back by popular demand!

I do have an F5 in Rainbow, so I'm set there. As far as how far south, just below the first set of big rocks where all those trees lay in the middle of the river. Maybe 300 or so yds south of the boat ramp.

__________________
Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do sometimes won't know how to take him...

I do have an F5 in Rainbow, so I'm set there. As far as how far south, just below the first set of big rocks where all those trees lay in the middle of the river. Maybe 300 or so yds south of the boat ramp.

If you are able, go further. There's a lot of good water between the Dam and the bottom of Bowman's Island, don't hesitate to explore!

__________________

All jokes now with 50% more walleye! 'Merica Man, back by popular demand!

Light line and a soft tip spinning rod, try throwing it with 2-4# test line. Me personally when I spin fished I used 5# braid mainline with a leader of 4# floro line to maximize casting the small lures.